Tampa Is…?

On the afternoon of Aug. 18, Pinellas officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the county’s most flood-prone areas for 6am the next day.  Tropical Storm Fay was heading our way.

Over at the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, visitors checked out and took off.  They say they missed out on over $150,000 in canceled rooms and missed food and beverage sales.

The storm shifted and ended up making landfall south of Naples.  Pinellas canceled the evacuation order at around 5:30am.

So now, hotel managers are saying that Pinellas “overreacted.” 

“It was outrageous for the authorities to make the call prior to even being put on hurricane watch,” wrote Philippe Eversdijk, general manger of the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach. “The decision … shows lack of respect for our area’s bread & butter: tourism.”

It sure is easy to whine about everything a month later.  Pinellas County Commission Chairman Robert Stewart wants the hotels to man up and deal with it:

“This was an unavoidable development,” Stewart said. “We’re always going to err on the side of caution.”

Pinellas is Florida’s most dense county - they have more people per square mile than anywhere else in the state.  The land is surrounded by water on three sides.  Any storm is going to cause trouble, and a big storm will nearly flood the entire county.  With that big of a responsibility, officials must act early. 

If your business loses a couple of bucks to ensure that nobody gets hurt, then you gotta tough it out.  You have another 330 days of the year to be profitable.  Or, you can move your multi-million dollar resorts somewhere else, perhaps New Orleans.

I bet these guys piss & moan about the insurance bill, too.

As of the latest forecasts, Tampa Bay is still within Tropical Storm Fay’s cone of uncertainty.

To be on the safe side, local governments have closed the schools and government offices for tomorrow, and other government-related services will not run, such as trash pickup, and early voting.

• In Pinellas, A mandatory evacuation will go into effect on Tuesday at 6 a.m. for Level A evacuation areas and all mobile home residents.  Shelters are slated to open at 6 a.m.
• A recommendation was made that Hillsborough also evacuate mobile homes and Level A, but County Administrator wants to wait until after the 5pm advisory to make her decision.
• Polk County government is closing Tuesday also, and they encourage you to watch TV for further announcements.
• Pasco asks their residents to be ready to evacuate, but will make another announcement at 6pm.
• For Manatee County, voluntary evacuations for residents living in level A areas, and mandatory evacuations for all Manufactured Home residents began at noon today.

So even if Fay takes a hard left, fizzles out and disappears, things are going to be a bit screwy around here with some mandatory evacuations, kids & staff missing school, and government workers clogging up the Wal-Marts free to take care of their families.

Of course, the Business World continues unabated, and you will likely be notified on what to expect about five minutes before you leave.

According to the latest, Tropical Storm Fay is on track to hit the Florida Keys on Monday afternoon, on her way to Tampa Bay.  No need to freak out, since the storm is only expected to strengthen to a Category 1.

However, none of the calculations, predictions, forecast models, maps in various colors, ideas, or guesses are guaranteed.  In other words, no one really knows what’s gonna happen.

Again, it’s expected to be a level 1, which is not too terribly damaging, but Fay did already kill four in Haiti.

Just make sure you keep an eye on what’s going on, and BE PREPARED for anything.

TBO.com has a hurricane page, and tampabay.com started a storm watch blog, but check out the Florida Emergency Managment page to make sure your plan is ready, and keep an eye on this thing.

Rumor says we are already into the 2008 hurricane season, so it’s probably a good time to pick your favorite panic site:

Hillsborough County Emergency Management
City of Tampa Emergency Management
Tampa Bay Regional Council Emergency Management

National Weather Service - Tampa Bay

ABC Action News Hurricane Center
Fox 13’s My Fox Hurricane.com
Weather - Hurricane Information - Bay News 9
Hurricane Guide - from TBO.com
Hurricane Guide 2008 from tampabay.com
Tampa Bay’s 10 Hurricane News - yes, just news.

Know your Evacuation Level:

• Hillsborough County
• Pinellas County
• Pasco County
• Sarasota County
• Hernando County

Considering we had an all time upset, a number of SEC shootouts, and closely fought games yesterday was one of the more exciting opening weekends in college football history. And we’re not done with Florida State facing off against Clemson Monday night.

• The Gators romped 49-3 on lowly Western Kentucky, and Golden God Tim Tebow looked especially impressive. Despite attempting only 17 passes Tebow threw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. From the highlights I saw it appears Tebow’s running ability suckered in the safeties on play-action leaving receivers wide open down the field.

• With everything that has changed in Miami it has to be comforting to Canes fans that their defense is the same old dominating run-stuffing machine. The Canes man-handled Marshall 31-3, collecting four interceptions. One red flag for the Canes though, quarterback Kirby Freeman went 9 for 21 for 81 yards, an interception and a touchdown.

• It has to be discomforting for Bulls fans that USF only beat Division 1-AA opponent Elon 28-13. I missed the game but why did Mike Ford only get six carries, especially if he ran for 83 yards on just those six carries? The only reason I can think of is Jim Leavitt is trying to pull some kind of rope-a-dope before their game against Auburn next Saturday.

Are you contemplating a move anywhere? Usually, if you are thinking about moving to another part of the country, you might check into a few things about the place where you are going. Typically, your research would include answering these three questions:

• What’s the job market like?
• Can I afford the house, the insurance, the taxes, AND the utilities?
• Will the kids get a decent education?

However, when moving to the FLA, you would think folk would add just one more question:

• What’s the deal with these hurricane thingys?

But apparently, they are not.

The family is hitting the road!  I’m sure many of you are on vacation right now.  The Fourth of July holiday falls on a Wednesday this year, so it makes perfect sense to take the entire week off.  Which is what many of my coworkers did, so we’re going the following week.  Plus the band is off for two weekends in a row, so it works out well all the way around.

Earlier this summer we asked the six year old what she wanted to do on vacation.  She said she wanted to see a different state.  “What state?” she was asked, and her immediate response was “Alabama.”

Alabama.

Heh.

It’s not exactly Six Flags, is it?

And how is it that of the 49 other states in the union, the first she considers is Alabama?

I can think of a million other places to visit besides Alabama.  But I really couldn’t come up with a decent reason NOT to take her to Alabama.  So that is where we are headed.  The whole family - wifey, the High School Senior, the 2nd grader, and myself.

What the six year old doesn’t know, is that daddy figured out a way to turn this request into a dreaded “learning experience.”  A double learning experience, really.  And for daddy, a bit of time at the casino.

First, there is the geography lesson.  Not only will she see Alabama, but she will also see Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and that strangest of states, Tallahassee.  Wifey and the teen have plans to lay on the beach in most of those states.

Second, we’re going to bring up some school supplies for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  As you know, the gulf coast has still not fully recovered from the Hurricane season of 2005.  They still need all sorts of help, and this trip will give us a chance to help directly (donations), and indirectly (spending some money there).

On the way over, we’ll visit brother Mike in Tallahassee, but plan to base operations on the beach in Biloxi.  Day trips are planned to Mobile, Gulfport, and New Orleans.  The trip back includes a stop in southern Georgia.

So, why am I telling you all of this?  Well, I just think “Alabama” is funny (not as funny as, say, “Arkansas,” though).  Plus wifey suggested I let you folks know what’s going on, in case you have some school supplies you want delivered to the gulf coast.  We plan to take anything we get directly to a non-profit up there for use this school year.  We will take anything you have lying around, but could really use a couple more backpacks.  Contact me if you are interested.

And listen - I don’t want you to think that wifey and I are boring people.  We have plenty of fun stuff planned for the kids, too.  We just want to make a big deal out of the “helping others” part.

PS:  There is something in the works for local students, too.  More info on that is coming soon. 

Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dean, Erin, Felix, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Noel, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy. That’s this year’s list of hurricane names. There are six lists that rotate and they do not change unless there is a hurricane that is so devastating that the name is retired, then another name replaces it. The official beginning of the 2007 Hurricane Season began June 1. A couple of weeks ago we had an early arrival with the formation of Tropical Storm Andrea. Unless you live on the East or Gulf Coast, Hurricane Season probably doesn’t mean sh*t to you until we are knee deep in it and CNN is into full sprint with their 24 hour coverage.

Truth is, it doesn’t mean sh*t to us, either, which is why when a place actually does get hit there are so many issues. Evacuate? Naw, that thing will turn before it hits us. I have actually evacuated twice, and both times the storm turned. So here is to another year of panicked weathermen, price gouging, gas runs, cones of confusion and hurricane parties. Tonight the wife and I are gathering with some friends for a kick-off party. We got the glasses, the mix and plenty of rum.

So here’s to hurricane season. May it be a quiet one, and here are some hurricane songs to go along with the drinks:

Jimmy Buffett - Tryin’ To Reason With Hurricane Season
Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
John Fogerty - Walking In A Hurricane
The Shiners - Hurricane Blues (awesome song)
Catherine Feeny - Hurricane Glass
Levon Helm - Hurricane
Neil Young - Like A Hurricane

I really didn’t wanna include this one but I figured if I didn’t I’d get 10 emails and/or comments telling me I forgot it:

Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane

What’s the term everyone who finds themselves inside the cone of confusion gets to hear ad-nauseum? Hunker freakin’ Down. Seriously, what hurricane songs post would be complete without a hunker down song?

Th’ Legendary ShackShakers - Hunkerdown

And this seems like as good a time as any to post my favorite Buffett song ever: The Ballad of Spider John

As a side note: This is my favorite and most lasting picture from Hurricane Katrina:

I don’t know what it is about this picture but for some reason it seems to capture everything about the event for me. Like everyone else, I watched the events in New Orleans from the comfort of my dry living room. I judged the NOLA government, I judged FEMA, I judged Washington, I judged the rioters and I judged what went down in the Superdome. I judged it all… over dinner, from the comfort of my dry, air conditioned living room. For the Southeast and Gulf coasts, it really isn’t a matter of if so much as when will we get hit. The Tampa/St. Pete area has been really fortunate. So far. Watching the Katrina events unfold, it was scary knowing that your town could be next. FEMA still sucks and will fall short again in 2007. If nothing else, that is guaranteed.

Written on June 1 and crossposted from Tampa/St. Pete’s own ninebullets.net